Few businesses are as repeatable as cleaning a building. The same number of restrooms get the same tissue, towels and soap every week. The same number of trash cans get the same liners every night. Floor finish gets used on a schedule. And yet many jan-san customers still order by noticing an empty shelf and calling.
That gap between predictable use and reactive ordering is where emergency deliveries, complaints and lost accounts come from. The app closes it, while the customer stays in charge.
Reorder for the weekly building order
Reorder lets a customer buy a past order again or order from saved items. For a building service contractor with a standard order per building, that's the whole weekly order in a couple of taps, with the option to adjust quantities. For a school custodian, it's last month's order, ready to go, with a few changes before the holiday break.
AutoPilot reorder, on a dial
AutoPilot reorder orders the customer's usual items on schedule so they don't run out. It can also be set so one scan orders what the customer actually uses, with the number of days of stock per scan set on the account. Scan the liner shelf, and the order covers the agreed period instead of a guess.
The customer controls how much it does. AutoPilot works on a dial:
- Suggest: the app suggests the usual items and quantities, and the customer decides.
- Ask first: the order is prepared and waits for the customer to confirm.
- Run on its own: the customer's standing order goes in on the schedule they set, with the items and quantities they chose.
The AI doesn't decide what to buy on its own. The customer sets the rules and the app follows them. Many accounts start with Suggest, see that the quantities match real usage, and then move steady items like tissue, towels and liners further along the dial while keeping chemicals or equipment on Suggest.
Blanket orders for bid contracts
Blanket orders let customers release against a contract. Jan-san has a lot of contract buying: school district bids, county and city contracts, hospital supply agreements and property management annual pricing. Rather than a new PO every time a building needs paper, the customer releases against the blanket in the app. Both sides can see the releases and how much of the contract is left.
Blankets are especially handy for seasonal work. A district that strips and refinishes floors every summer can set up a blanket for stripper, finish, pads and mop heads in spring, and schools release against it as their custodial crews start the summer project.
For you, reorders on autopilot mean steadier revenue and fewer surprise rush orders. Your purchasing team sees the pattern and can buy paper and liners by the truckload with confidence. Customers are less likely to shop you, because their supplies simply show up. And reps get their time back for the work that grows accounts: equipment demos, floor care programs, dilution control setups and training custodial staff.
The easiest place to start is your steadiest accounts and their most predictable items. Agree on the usual quantities with the customer, choose a spot on the dial, and review it after a month. Small adjustments get it right, and the account becomes much easier to keep.
Want to see your own jan-san catalog in it? See how it works.